Amplified
by FlyYouFools
Summary: Emma and Regina rescue Henry from Neverland and return to Storybrooke, but at a grave price.


**AN:** **This story is pretty angsty, but I will set your mind at ease right off the bat: No one dies and there will be SQ eventually.**

**Trigger warning: Seizure disorder, disabled adult. The medical condition in this story mimics a seizure disorder. I don't have any experience with such, all I know is what I gleaned from Internet research. That said, my aim is to respectfully portray some of those situations in relation to the affected and their caregivers as best I can. If anything I write is incorrect, please let me know, as I intend no disrespect.**

**As usual, I own nothing with OUAT. Thanks to the wonderful Alaska829Snow for the beta help.**

Regina felt the seizure approaching before she heard it. The almost-gentle trembling would quickly build to jerking limbs, violent twitches, short gasps and the occasional whimper.

She was so used to these middle-of-the-night interruptions, she could follow the procedure barely awake, like a mother who finds herself halfway to her crying child's bedroom before she regains conscious thought.

Within 30 seconds Regina had risen and walked the comforter, blanket and sheet down to the edge of the mattress. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes, she continued around to the opposite side of the bed and crouched down.

"Emma," she said quietly. "I'm going to turn you on your side." Regina knew she couldn't respond, but always spoke to her as if she still were the wise-ass woman who arrived at her front door two-and-a-half years earlier. Plus, Whale and Archie both told her that narrating everyday life like it was a DVD commentary would be comforting and calming.

The blonde was lying on her back when Regina pushed her onto her left side, maneuvering her further into the middle of the bed. Emma didn't react to the manhandling, nor did her eyes open as the seizure took over her body.

There had been many unpleasant tasks in caring for Miss Swan since their return from Neverland, but witnessing these episodes was always the worst. For Regina, whose entire lifetime was a quest for control, watching someone completely lose power over her body was nothing short of terrifying.

Emma's entire body began to jerk, ragged gasps erupting from her clenched jaw. Her expressive, beautiful face and once-joyful eyes were screwed up in rigor as her head repeatedly shook and wrenched in tiny movements. Her arms were bent up at the elbows, her hands and wrists limp as they fluttered across her chest. Her eyes popped open, wide and unfocused. _Was she conscious? Did she know what was happening?_ Regina winced in empathy an arm's distance away.

"You're going to be fine, Emma," she soothed in smooth tones. "Just hang on, a little bit longer. I'm here."

Emma's right arm twice spasmed wildly and even though she had been watching these for, what, 3 months now, Regina always had to fight the instinct to tackle the flailing woman and hold her down in aid. But she knew restraint would only cause Emma more suffering and could lead to injury for either of them. She had accepted that harsh reality and doctor's orders while Snow still cried about it every time a seizure occurred in her presence and begged someone – anyone - to help her daughter. No, Regina knew she had to painfully watch her ally ride it out, trapped inside a body controlled by a brain that had been pushed beyond its breaking point.

Reduced to a small lurch here and there, Regina deemed it safe to approach. She sat on the edge of what had become Emma's side of the bed and started rubbing her back in small circles.

"Hello there," she said quietly with a soft smile. "You had a seizure. You're fine now. Try to relax."

Emma had not spoken since returning from Neverland, but that didn't stop Regina from automatically channeling how she thought Emma would respond.

_Well, no shit, Sherlock. Tell me something I_ don't_ know._ Regina smirked, she knew she was getting good at this. Or, she thought wryly, this is the first step toward madness – having made-up conversations with oneself.

The seizures were like thunderstorms – brief and intense. Accustomed to timing them for the neurospecialist's review, Regina looked at her watch, and walked over to the notebook she kept on her night table. "12/9 3:13 am: 42s" she wrote. The notebook used to sit on the nightstand by Emma, until a thrashing arm not only knocked off the notebook, but also shattered the bedside lamp and gashed Emma's forearm. The nightstand was removed quickly after, the notebook transferred to Regina's side.

The ex-mayor climbed back in bed to gauge Emma's state. Her eyes were still open, but calmer, the striking green tracking Regina's movements.

"Do you want some water?" Emma blinked twice.

"Can I get you anything?" _Whiskey, neat, _Regina channeled.

One blink.

She grabbed the covers and pulled them back up over the pair.

She leaned across the bed and gently ran a hand through the right side of Emma's mass of curls, cupped her chin and planted a perfunctory kiss on her forehead.

"Alright, Miss Swan, let's get some sleep." Regina adopted a slightly annoyed tone, as if Emma woke her up in the middle of the night to tell her a knock-knock joke.

Emma lowered her right eyelid, barely a millimeter, which Regina liked to think was her attempt at a wink. She liked to imagine it was, but hell, she couldn't be sure. She couldn't be sure of anything, anymore.

She laid her head on the pillow, fading into sleep with the thoughts of the last time she received a wink from Emma Swan.

**xxxx**

Snow was perched on a crate watching her husband and daughter practice swordfighting on the deck of The Jolly Roger. The woman practically vibrated with pride. While she hated the reason for this nontraditional family cruise she loved that she and her husband were finally getting to spend large chunks of time with their not-so-baby girl. _A silver lining_, she thought with a smile.

There were laughs, shouts ("You cheated! No fair!") and the clinks and clanks of metal on metal as Regina quietly walked up alongside Snow.

"I need to talk to you," she said measuredly.

"What is it?"

Regina simply turned and walked toward a railing, far away from the dueling duo, stopping and turning to find Snow on her heels.

"Are you going to throw me overboard?" Snow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Regina scoffed.

"Hardly. If I wanted you dead, believe me, you'd long be chum. Do you know how easy it is to stage an accident on a ship?"

Snow reared her head back a touch, disconcerted with the ease and speed with which Regina shared that fact.

Brows knit in thought, the former Evil Queen returned to the matter at hand. "I'm concerned about our plan."

As the ship grew closer to Neverland, the parties convened to discuss their options for landing, finding Henry, employing force and getting out alive. The offensive options were limited considering the task at hand: 4 cannons; 8 pistols; 5 swords, 3 daggers; a bow with seemingly endless arrows and a metric shit-ton of magic courtesy of Rumple, Regina and Emma.

"I'm apprehensive about using Emma's magic on the island."

Snow looked skeptical, automatically expecting another ruse from her former stepmother. "Why?"

"Your daughter is _incredibly_ powerful and an absolute beginner. That makes her extremely dangerous – to herself and others. It's like giving Henry a race car and encouraging him to drive." _Henry_. It hurt to speak his name.

"What if she doesn't do magic, what if she just helps you, like in the mine?"

Regina stepped closer, dropping her voice even further. "That's extremely dangerous to _her_."

"I don't understand."

Regina sighed. _As always_.

"Emma is like a…" she searched for the perfect analogy. "She's like a magic amplifier. When she works with me, she makes my magic far more powerful. And Neverland is an incredibly magical place, which would intensify our combined powers exponentially."

"But that's good, right? You can control it and direct it where it needs to go."

"Yes. But for her…I'm concerned she won't be able to handle it."

Snow knew Regina was uncharacteristically trying to pull her punches and couldn't figure out why. Losing patience, she pressed. "Whatever you're trying to say, just say it."

Regina exhaled and drew her hands together, intertwining her fingers. "I am concerned that by channeling that much magic, that much emotion, in that setting - with our son in mortal danger…I'm worried Miss Swan could suffer brain damage."

Snow gasped loudly and her eyes grew wide in terror. "I never realized…" She was so horrified she couldn't continue the sentence.

Regina continued, her voice quiet and grave. "Few do. I witnessed it several times in our land. It was not common, by any means, but the effects were…extensive. Whether it was inexperienced users attempting magic far beyond their abilities or experienced practitioners whose spells went awry, all were addled. Some went mad."

Despite the fact she was talking to someone she loved to upset, even Regina couldn't get into the specifics. Some victims went criminally insane and were brought before the Queen for sentencing. Instead of imprisonment, she exiled the worst offenders to the Enchanted Forest, a passive-aggressive death sentence as they quickly served as prey for the ogres. In fact, Regina thought banishment was actually a blessing for the afflicted as they were put out of their misery and the ogres could feed far away from the kingdom. Two birds, one stone. She never saw a single person return to even a remotely normal life.

"It was…extremely unpleasant. I don't…I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Have you talked to her, told her about this?" Tears gathered in Snow's brown eyes, threatening to spill.

"No." Regina's tone was matter of fact. "I fear it would be a waste of time. The only way to ensure she is not harmed would be if she did not use her magic. She could still fight at your husband's side with a sword. But I know she will refuse to abstain."

"How?"

"Because _I_ would."

"But…"

Regina was annoyed at Snow's inability to follow her logic and impatiently blew out a harsh exhale.

"Her son has been kidnapped and is in mortal danger. Her magic can save his life. She will use it."

"How could you know that?"

"Because I would do the same thing."

"Even if it took your life?" Snow sniffed, the tears had breached their hold and were blazing paths down her round cheeks.

"Of course. What good would living be if Henry were…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Did you talk to Rumple?" Snow's eyes brightened as if she had stumbled upon the solution and the problem would be quickly resolved. _Remember when we thought Emma would be in danger using her magic? Ha! How stupid were _we_?_ "Maybe there's something he could do."

"I talked to him. He agrees with my assessment and claimed he knew of nothing that we could do to help Emma safely channel magic. Plus, I doubt he cares what happens to her."

Snow nodded reluctantly. That sounded like Rumple, there were only two people he cared for and Emma was neither.

"So why are you telling me this?"

"I hoped, perhaps, you could convince her. You are her mother. My arguments – however valid – would not be as powerful as yours. She and I…we're reluctant allies at best. I don't want Henry to lose his mother. He loves her. I know that." Regina paused with the gravity of the statement to come. "I accept that."

"I'll talk to her," Snow said mournfully, walking away. She stopped after a few yards and turned around. "Regina? Thank you."

The former queen nodded and leaned on the railing, gazing out to sea.

**xxxx**

Snow relayed the sobering news to Charming that night and they agreed to talk to Emma together the following day. While The Jolly Roger was a ship, it was a small ship and Regina couldn't help but overhear the aftermath of the conversation as a cabin door slammed open and a clamor rose up the stairs.

Emma came thundering up from below deck, shouting over her shoulder, "No fucking way! Bullshit!"

Regina knew she should have held her tongue, but she couldn't resist as she moved to intercept the woman: "Language, Miss Swan! Those are your parents to whom you're speaking. Have a modicum of respect."

Emma looked enraged, eyes wild, the wind whipping the shock of blonde hair around her face: "Fuck off, Regina! For the love of all that is holy, FUCK OFF!"

Regina had only seen this level of rage from Emma once before and for that the brunette sent her flying backwards down her walkway with a blast of magic. If it worked before…

She pointed her hands at Emma and motioned them over the railing, propelling Emma overboard and into the grey-green sea. The ship was at rest for minor repairs and preparation; they were in no danger of leaving the blonde behind. Regina magically tugged Emma to the surface, coughing, sputtering and nuclear-mad.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

"You need to calm down," Regina calmly instructed over the railing.

"I need to KICK YOUR ASS!"

"That attitude will not get you back on this boat. Calm yourself, stop your temper tantrum and we can discuss this like adults."

Emma bobbed gently, rapidly tiring from emotional exhaustion, frustration, anger and treading water fully clothed. "Oh, like you discussed with my mother? You went to my _mother_ first? Instead of me? How adult is that?" Her mood was shifting from fury and shock to hurt and confusion.

"Silly me, I simply thought she would have had a better chance than I. Had_ I_ broached this with you, who knows what wrath you would have unleashed."

"Where's Emma? OH!" Snow gasped as she approached Regina and did a double-take as she looked over the railing.

"Compose yourself. She's almost ready to come back on board, I don't need you enraging her further. I can't believe I thought you could convince her."

Snow looked sheepish as Emma yelled up with a grimace: "Hey! What are you two talking about? Stop talking! GET ME UP THERE!"

Regina looked bored as she replied. "Have you settled yourself?"

"Yes."

"Will you peacefully discuss this like an adult?"

"Yes."

"Without profanity?"

She waited for a response but got none and looked disdainfully down at the soaking Sheriff.

"Really? _That's_ your sticking point?"

"Alright…I guess."

The former queen aimed her hands at the blonde and slowly pulled her out of the water and up onto the deck. With a flourish of fingers, Emma and her clothes were dry.

"Now, let's all sit down and try this again. Snow, call your husband. Emma, get the others."

Regina turned on her heel and sauntered to the table below deck, still every inch in charge, regardless of the setting.

**xxxx**

Henry's mothers stood side-by-side, bracing for the impending attack. Each was dressed similarly, tan cargo pants, long-sleeved white linen shirts, leather boots and brown vests. All were enchanted to take as much as damage as possible, which in the end they knew wouldn't be much, but would be better than nothing. Regina had a dagger stashed in her belt, Emma a sword. Sadly, both women realized they were almost for show.

"_We look like pirates," Regina huffed in disgust as Hook snorted._

"_I specifically ordered an eye patch," Emma deadpanned. "And rum."_

_Emma sidled up to Regina, who was preparing to transport them all to the island. The blonde leaned close and whispered in her ear, "You look hot, though."_

They could hear the onslaught coming, the muffled footfalls and whooping war cries of The Lost Boys growing closer by the second. Soon the ground began to shake, the leaves and brush rustling and swaying 100 yards ahead. The children would be the first wave, they figured; Pan, the second. _Coward_, Regina thought, _of course he'd send children into slaughter first._

Regina turned her head and gazed at her companion, who looked focused and, frankly, quite pissed off. She felt a pang in her heart at the woman's naiveté. Emma didn't know what she was up against and for that Regina was almost grateful.

Emma turned and caught the woman's stare, a smirk on her lips.

"Well, Regina, I'd like to say it's been nice knowin' ya, but…"

Emma winked, raised her left hand and reached for Regina.

**TBC**

**Reviews sincerely appreciated!**


End file.
